Only the first steps are clear

Yesterday Adrienne started the process of learning about the melanoma on her face, and what the steps are for her. At the end of many appointments (most of the time spent waiting), we learned this: only the first steps are clear, the rest will present themselves as needed.

From my daughter Adrienne's journal:

What is typical of surgeries for melanoma is to take an extra margin of
tissue around the tumor. A centimeter is typical. I have an unfortunately-placed
tumor. So there isn't a centimeter to take on all sides. There is going to have
to be more than one surgery. Which isn't what I'd been hoping to hear. He
doesn't want to go doing some in depth reconstruction of my nose to find out
they hadn't taken enough tissue and have to rip it all up again to get
underneath.

So it's a step by step play it by ear kind of deal.

Here's what I liked the least about the best case senario: my healing time is
substantially longer than I had hoped for. So best case scenario, the first
surgery is done. They got it all and my sentinel node biopsy (that will
determine if cancer has spread) which they will do at the same time as my nose
surgery is negative.

They have done a simple skin graft onto my nose. (They'll
be taking this patch of skin from behind my ear. It will leave a scar. I'm
already thinking about getting a tattoo over it as a memorial of all this,
should things go well.) Now I'm supposed to wait and let it heal up around two
months to see how things go before they go back in and FINISH the
reconstruction of my nose.

I'm lookin at some serious healing time here.

Next steps:
Surgery 20 April
Results: 27 April